Reunited
by akkyylle
Summary: When past lovers can still be friends, either they were never in love – or they still are. "If I could just wish away my feelings for you, I would have done so already." AU. NaruSakuSasu. -ONGOING!-
1. Prologue: alone

_Author's Note:_

Soooo, here's another kind of plot I have for you. Might seem ordinary, yeah? Wrong. I have a good plot in mind for this one, and for once this will not be a one-shot. This chapter is kind of like a prologue only, so you can expect longer chapters in the future. I'm into writing a bit of angst and depression fics right now, and I don't know why. Probably because I'm going through a tough time myself.

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Naruto, or any of its awesome characters. :D

_Summary:_ When past lovers can still be friends, either they were never in love – or they still are. "If I could just wish away my feelings for you, I would have done so already." **AU**. _NaruSaku._

**WARNING: I revised some parts and added some important details, miniscule but important nonetheless. Also, I'm working to make the chapters longer. :)**

**CONTINUED AGAIN! Yaaay! Undergoing revisions, typos & grammatical errors here and there, and will work to finish it! :3 so please, support me by reading, reviewing, and spreading the word! THANKS! :D**

* * *

**REUNITED**

_"I wish I had missed_

_the first time_

_that we kissed.._

_'cause you broke all_

_your promises."_

**PROLOGUE -** _alone_

* * *

Seven years have passed since he left.

Everything changed when he did so. I drew in a shaky breath as I place my hands on top of the grave in front of me. His grave. My body had grown accustomed to his absence, following a new routine as each day passes. Eat, go to work, meet some new people once in a while, go home, and sleep. Rinse and repeat.

My heart, however, was a different story. Every single day I put on an emotionless facade, with the resolve to be strong, unwavering and eyes always void of emotion. Only a few people know, for only a few people care. The rest have gone on with their lives, never looking back to the horrible past we all want to run away from. I had wanted to escape, yes, for this event was too painstakingly overwhelming for anyone of us to handle. The weak had run, but us, the strong had decided to stay. Stay by his side, until he had left, gone on and went to another world.

But I forgot to mention that when I said _'few', _I only meant, the two of us.

What happened that night was not one of the best memories I'd like to recall, but it was definitely more than a blur to me. I remember every single detail, from the way the moon shined down to the very last wave shifting through the crystal waters. The whirlwind of emotions was definitely overwhelming, and it came to me at such an alarming pace every time I even dared look back on that horrible, _horrible _night.

You ask if I ever cried, or if anyone cried for him. The answer is yes, _yes_, every night since he had passed I had shed endless tears. My facade begins to crumble the moment I step foot in our 2-storey house, the house where we lived together as a couple. Did I ever tell you that we were supposed to get married, right outside our house? Living alone in that house became much, much worse because of that fact. It felt suffocating, and it made me feel like I wanted to die along with him. Staying in that building only made me remember everything, from the moment we first moved in until the last moment we shared inside.

Every time I get no more than one foot distance to that house, I start to get a sinking feeling in my chest, my dull viridian eyes regaining back the whirlwind of emotions it refuses to show just moments before. As I begin to remember everything again, to reminisce about the times when he was still here with me, tears fall down my face and I refuse to hold them back. _It can't be helped, _I thought, _since all our memories are trapped in this lonely house._

And whenever I go there, I am trapped along with them.

You would think that in this time of grief and loss for a lonely girl like me, I'd be surrounded by friends trying hard to cheer me up and help me feel okay again. But sad to say, I have no one to run to, no one to hold on to. They've all packed their bags and left, ran away the moment the funeral, _his _funeral ended. Wanting so desperately to escape the broken girl left in its wake. What friends, huh?

Nobody stayed, not even one. But I couldn't blame them. No, because we all lost something when he died. Something important, something essential.

Our sanity.

Although the reasons we had were quite different.

Seven years ago, I had someone. Someone who cared, someone I could run to, someone to turn to. Someone I could possibly even love. But now that he's gone, my options have run dry. He's gone, along with the one I love, and there's nothing I can do to stop them both from leaving. One, I couldn't control. The other, I couldn't prevent. I have lost two of the most important people I ever had. The most important people I ever had. In this world, in this lonely and cruel world, I am left alone. And the thought frightens me to my very bones.

That was until an eerily familiar man with blonde, spiky hair and vibrant blue orbs hit me with his car one night as I was walking home alone from visiting Sasuke's grave. That night, no, that _moment _changed everything. Absolutely everything, over again.

My name is Haruno Sakura, and today I begin to tell you all about my life, my cruel, _cruel _life.

* * *

Short, and vague prologue.

Is it enough to keep you going? Or did it not pique your interest? Tell me what you think. :)

love_love_love! :3

_~akkyylle_


	2. what happened to US?

**A/N:** I think I'll finish this story first before YWSMC. I kind of like where my mind wanders off to when I write this story. It's relaxing. And I need all the relaxation I can get. XD.

Well, I'm sorry for the very short and _vague _prologue of this story. I just wanted to test out the viewer's curiosity. :) But I have to tell you, for this story I would be releasing chapters bit by bit. They will not be that long also, ranging from only 900-1000+ words. I'm sorry, but I write the story as it goes. That's just my style. I do promise this will be a multi-chaptered story, and I hope I could develop the characters well. This chapter serves as the introduction to what our two protagonists are feeling. More development on the actual story and plot will occur on the continuing chapters. Please support!

_Warning: _you might get confused with my writing style here at first, especially with the sudden changes of the story's POV. you'll get used to it, hopefully.

* * *

**Chapter ONE:**

**what happened to US?**

_"i miss those blue eyes, how you kiss me at night_

_but i never told you, what i should have said_

_no, i never told you.._

i just held it in._"_

* * *

Seven years ago, I would have jumped for joy at the chance of seeing him again. My face would instantly light up, a happily bright smile adorning my pale face and a hint of pink could be seen painting my cheeks. A slight shiver would crawl up my spine, along with the buckling of my knees.

I would have been happy.

He would have loved the idea of seeing me again, too. His grin, his toothy, _toothy _grin would spread all over his face and his coral blue orbs would fail to hide the excitement he held inside. Upon meeting my gaze we would have run to each other, arms enveloping the other into a tight embrace, as if never wanting to let go. We would gaze lovingly into each other's eyes, our smiles widening in pure bliss at the sight.

But alas, there's a catch. _Would. _That's the bottom line. We _would _have. I _would _have reacted that way, and he _would _have done the same. But _would _is different from _will._ The past is different from the present, and it is most likely different from the future. What I would have done back then, I doubt I will do now.

That's the reason why my heart never skipped a beat anymore whenever I thought about him. I no longer cry, I no longer shed unwanted tears for him at night. No longer call out his name, when I should be calling for _him, for Sasuke._Never wanting to drown in his memories, in remembering why he did what he did.

All I feel now when I think of him is the anger. But somehow, in the depths of my confused mind, the longing to see him, to hold him, to speak to him… it's still painfully there.

I know, it's wrong. I'm engaged to Sasuke but my mind wanders off to him, to the blue-eyed blonde I've lived my whole life with. I grew up with him, you see. He became my best friend when everybody else was busy pushing the both of us away. When they treated us like dirt while we were trying to be our nicest. It was us against the world, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that we became inseparable. Because we were, oh _of course_ we were. We basically saw each other grow into the persons we are now, so could you really blame us?

But everything, everything we've come to know and come to be changed when I met _him._

His arrival changed absolutely everything. Suddenly, my time with Naruto lessened considerably as I spent more and more of my time and energy with Sasuke. The things I used to do with Naruto, I did with Sasuke. He became my friend, someone close to me. Someone who, in time, held a special place in my heart. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with him, too.

So, you ask, where did that leave Naruto? Didn't I love him? The answer is, _I don't know. _Kami, I have no idea. Was friendship really all that had gone on between us? Or was there something more? I didn't really know anymore, and it makes me feel horrible. It breaks my heart to see his coral blue orbs look on at us with a hint of pain and sadness in them, and whenever my viridian orbs lock with his, I can feel the intensity of his emotions bottling up inside of him. I don't know why I chose Sasuke over him, why I could possibly let go of what we had so easily. That is why to this day, I dread the thought of seeing him again. Of facing the man I so desperately needed but so mercilessly pushed away.

That is also why my feet remained planted on the rough surface of the streets when my gaze landed on the speeding blue sports car. I ignored the driver's calls, roughly recalling the words _"My breaks are broken, get out of the way!" _being shouted over and over again. He didn't recognize me, I knew. How could he? It was almost one thirty a.m. in the morning when I started walking home. The streets were dark, the lights were out, and the moon was nowhere to be seen. It didn't help that the rain was pouring hard that night, making my abnormally pink hair turn several shades darker. No, he couldn't have known who I was.

I sigh as I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact.

* * *

Regret, it surely is scary, isn't it? It will eat you up and swallow you whole. You get the nagging feeling, this non-existent rope tugging at your heart and constricting it _every passing minute. _It makes you wish, it makes you hope, it makes you _pray _for time to rewind, for you to undo, to erase and to repeat that moment, that exact scenario wherein you knew you screwed up. You kind of wish that _someone _out there was smart enough to create a time machine for you to use, so you can go back in time, with the knowledge you have now and change everything, _absolutely everything _to change the outcome. You wish that you had done things differently, said the right and not the wrong words, and did the right things.

But _no. _What's done is done, and nothing you ever do will change it. You can wish all you want on a million shooting stars, cling to whatever hope you can find and pray to every god you know out there, but _nothing_ will change. Nothing will ever change and you know it. Time machines don't exist, and time isn't a video tape that can be repeated over and over as you please. Mistakes are not like writings on a piece of paper that you can erase, and it most certainly isn't a mistyped word on a computer document that you can undo and replace. You may think back on it, have a hundred thoughts of _'what ifs' _and _'i should haves' _but the result will not change. The damage has been done.

And the worst part? You have to live with it, you have to face the consequences of your decisions, no matter how small or _trivial _they might have seemed. You have to face it _every second of each passing day. _You can never avoid it, and you can never turn your back on it. It's like your shadow, it will follow you around _everywhere you go. _Sometimes you may think you've outrun it, outsmarted it and lost it, but it's always there. It will always come back to haunt you, to scare you, to _taunt _you, to _mock you. _It will always remind you of the wrong you have committed, of the damages it did not only to you but to other people.

Not once in my life did I imagine that I would one day experience this kind of feeling. To put it simply, _it sucks._ I hate this feeling, I hate this guilt, this _regret. _I hate the way it turned me into a coward, into a _bad person. _One mistake caused another, until it piled up and it hurt not only me, but it hurt _her _too. The sight of her _crying _face, her heart-breaking _smile, _and her shining_ viridian orbs _filled with tears. All because of _me, _all because of my stupidity.

That is why I decided to do what I did. It was easier, for both her and for me. Or that's what I thought. Regret was not something I considered in the equation. I never knew I caused the girl I love more pain when I did the unthinkable. Even though we've been through so much, even though she's pushed me away in every way she could possibly can, my love for her never wavered, not even for a second. If any, it only intensified and in turn, made it hurt so much worse. It just... hurt.

And guess what I did seven years ago? I'll give you three seconds to guess.

_Three..._

_Two..._

_One._

I ran away, and I never looked back.

* * *

**A/N:** Soooo, review? :3

Ciao!


	3. everything's falling apart

**A/N: **Heeey. :) I'm back, AGAIN. I'm terribly sorry for the long, and agonizing wait. Lol. :D I wish! xD anyways, I've been busy with school lately, but with my finals ending and vacation coming up, I have time to write again. Yay! :D

So, here's chapter two. I plan on finishing this story first before updating the others, so for the ones who are waiting for the sequel of gotcha, you have to wait for a little while. I need to focus on only one story at a time so I can finish them faster. :) and for the information of everyone, I am keeping the NaruSaku pairing because the plot I have in mind demands it to be this way. xD

So anyway, here's chapter three! :) please review, and I hope you like it.

* * *

**Chapter TWO:**

_**everything's falling apart**_

"_I miss everything about you, can't believe that I still want you.._

_After all the things we've been through.._

_I miss everything about you."_

* * *

Where am I?

I look around, and all I see is black. It's so dark, and so chilly. I wrap my arms around myself with all the force I could muster, trapping the body heat I so desperately need in order to protect myself from the freezing cold.

I can't see anything but black, I wonder why? It's like I'm staring right through an endless void, a place with great depths that I can't even begin to explore. Looking under my feet, I see myself. I see my reflection, my eighteen year old self staring right back at me.

And that's when I realize that I'm trapped in the memory of ten years ago when my life was even farther from perfect than it is now. Flashes of my memories from when I was eighteen pass me by, each snippet getting worse by the second.

It makes me remember my past, my horrible, horrible past. It makes me remember everything that went wrong in my life, with my family, with my friends, with Sasuke, with _Naruto._

Oh, Naruto.. Why? How? Why would you do it to me? How can you do this to me? To us? To…. Sasuke? Why did you do it? How could you even have the courage and will to even do such a thing?

How could you leave me all alone, even after all that's happened? Especially after everything that has happened?

I can ask myself these questions all I want, but I know that no one will answer me. These questions will remain unanswered, that I can be sure of. Unless, he comes back…

But that's as impossible as Naruto himself giving up Ramen.

So I'm stuck here, staring at oblivion, alone with my thoughts. A flash of pink, blue and a bright, bright yellow start to rush forward, stopping right in front of me. It's moving, I observe, and it's only when I look at it carefully and thoroughly that I realize that it's us.

Him, Sasuke, and me. In our old genin days. When we were happy as we ever could be. Naruto prancing around, annoying the hell out of me and Sasuke for hours. Sasuke looking pissed like always but having that special glint in his eyes portraying all the emotions he fights to keep hidden. Me, with all my pink-haired glory switching from an annoyed look to a subtle grin as Naruto gets bonked on the head by the almighty Uchiha.

I can feel my lips twitch upwards in amusement, and for a second I forget all my problems, all the things that went wrong, replaced by the joy I haven't felt in so long. One might wonder, what exactly happened for me to be this miserable? I clung to the flash of my memory in front of me like it was the last breath of air I could take, breathing it in and forever imprinting it in my mind.

Because I know, I am painfully aware that a moment like that would never happen again.

Especially since he's gone, and he's gone as well. Both of them have gone, leaving me here in this bottomless depth to ponder and replay the horrifying past we all shared together.

How Sasuke dies right in front of me as I stare wide-eyed, tears freely dripping from my emerald green orbs.

How I watch as he takes his last gasps of air, while Naruto runs away, his bright blue eyes ablaze with fury, with fear, and with regret. All at the same time.

How Sasuke, my poor, poor Sasuke look at me pleadingly, begging for me to save his life.

And I couldn't do anything.

Why? Because I was standing on the other side of the river when I saw them. It was on accident that I was even there. I was just at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Until now, I have no idea what really happened that night. Did Naruto kill him? If not, why did he look like he did? He saw me, I know he did. Because when our eyes met, I could see the emotions clearly showing in his blue orbs.

What confused me the most was the tears present in them as well.

If he killed him, why would he even shed a tear? Again, I keep asking questions I know will forever be left unanswered.

So I just ask myself the question I know I could probably find the answer to.

Where am I?

* * *

"How is she?" a man asks the only doctor present in the room. At two am in the morning, the man was lucky he even found one sober enough to do the surgery. "Is she going to live?"

The doctor bows his head, but quickly pulls it back up as he answers, "We're not certain."

Fear quickly takes over the man, as he takes the doctor's shoulders and shakes it hard. "What do you mean, you're not certain? You just did a freakin' surgery on her! Aren't you supposed to know whether she will live or not?"

The doctor shrugs him off easily, his eyes narrowed and his lips formed into a thin line. He answers, with a tone which can hardly be considered as polite. "I repeat: we're not certain. The injuries she sustained were far too much for her frail body to handle. Right now she's still undergoing another necessary surgery performed by another doctor, and we have to wait until it's done before we can find out about her condition."

The man withdraws his hands and places them on his face, tears now flowing freely. He falls down to the ground with a small thud as he pulls at his hair.

Deciding that his presence was no longer needed, the doctor gives a brief nod and bows to the man before turning on his heels and leaving him by himself.

The man continues to cry, for reasons he himself couldn't identify.

"I hit her. I hit her, I hit her, I hit _her_." He says to himself, like a mantra, repeating it over and over again. "Why, why, why, _why_? Why does it have to be her? Why does it have to be me? Why is this happening to me?"

He quickly picks himself up, rushing past the scurrying nurses and doctors, desperately looking for a comfort room. Where he can find comfort, he says to himself sarcastically.

When he finds one, he steps inside and takes a good look at the full length of the mirror. He stares at his horrified expression. His blonde hair is dishevelled, his eyes are red and puffed from all the crying and his face is wet with tears.

He stares at himself for a good minute before he says to himself, "Naruto Uzumaki, what have you done?"


	4. here comes goodbye

A/N: I hope I'm not going to fast nor too slow :) read and review, please! :D

* * *

**Chapter THREE:**

_**here comes goodbye**_

_"here comes goodbye, here comes the last time..  
_

_here comes the start of every sleepless night,_

_the first of every tear I'm gonna cry."_

* * *

The girl, no, the woman lying in the hospital bed was sleeping so peacefully. Her face was free from scrunches, her lips pulling upwards into a tiny smile. Viridian orbs were covered by her eyelids, long, curly lashes standing out for everyone to see.

She looked so peaceful.

But her mind, what she was feeling, was an entirely different matter.

Sakura stared hard at herself through a make-shift mirror in front of her, eyebrows meeting in confusion as she wonders how on earth she could see herself while she was trapped here in this dark void, confused and alone.

How long has passed? An hour, a day maybe? Or maybe even a week? She didn't know. She had no idea, and she has lost count of the hours that ticked by. During her stay here, however, millions of memories has passed her by.

Some good, some bad. And some horrifyingly terrible.

She sees Sasuke and her in their early teenage years, when they were still clumsy and infatuated with each other. Her emotions were clearly painted on her face, brightening it up wherein Sasuke was a little more subtle. His face was still emotionless as ever, his obsidian eyes narrowed and his mouth set into a grim line. But it was there. It was subtle enough to be hidden from those who didn't know him, but obvious enough so that Sakura would be reassured of his feelings.

Oh, how adorable they looked together.

And it only made Sakura miss him even more. It pained her to even think about Sasuke and the past they shared together, and thinking about Naruto wasn't even an option, so she stopped thinking altogether. She struggled to make her mind blank, void of any thoughts except for how to escape this oblivion she has landed herself into.

Why the hell is she even here, anyway? Last thing she remembered, she was walking home at 1 am in the morning from the cemetery, where she visited Sasuke. She sighs, it was his seventh anniversary that day, which dampened her mood considerably.

Suddenly, her throat felt constricted and something was pulling, tugging at her heartstrings. The feeling made her want to cry.

No, she would not cry, not again. Not again. She cried, she always_ always_ cried. It was tiring. But most of the time, she couldn't stop. She couldn't help it. It's overwhelming, the things she feels. And nobody understood her.

Why was she walking home alone at 1 am in the morning? Certainly, she didn't stay at the cemetery for that long. Ah, she tried approaching the friends she haven't talked to in so long. It was the seventh anniversary of that day, of that horrifyingly terrible event.

Which is why she wanted to visit, and be with someone. Anyone from her past. Anyone, even Lee, would've sufficed.

But hours later, she couldn't find anyone. She looked everywhere. Their usual hangouts, Ichiraku's, the training fields, everywhere they could possibly be. Even their homes, where she went to look as a last resort.

Apparently, it was a bad idea. Because she stood there for who knows how long, knocking at a door that wouldn't open. Not for her.

It's sad, it's like they've shut her out of their lives. They've run away from her, just like they did all those years ago. Every year, this same thing happened. And she was getting tired of it. She's growing tired of hoping, but only being disappointed in the end.

Enough is enough.

Which is why she decided to let that night be the last. She would mourn, mourn for one last time. Mourn the loss of the love of her life, the broken friendships, the family that will never ever be complete again.

And the loss of him. _Naruto._

Tears fell down her face, awfully hidden by the raindrops that kept pouring on her that night. They slashed down on her mercilessly, soaking her from head to toe. Pitiful… she looked _pitiful._

But no one was there to see her. She remembered everything now, how she felt, why she felt that way, and why she was walking alone in the wee hours of the morning. But she asked herself, why am I in an endless void when I was walking home?

And then it hit her.

The bright headlights. The car. The panicked screeching of a familiar voice, screaming at her to get the hell out of the way. She remembered now. She took one last look at the car on her side before it crashed onto her fragile body. The pain, it was nothing compared to what she felt inside.

But it was painful, nonetheless. She felt every bone in her breaking, along with the beat of her heart being erratic. She felt every single thing, and then everything went black.

_Naruto_. Naruto was the one who ran over her.

And the realization made her heart sink low in her stomach. Then she hears it, a voice. _That_ voice._ His_ voice.

It echoed along the walls of the void, surrounding her with the voice of the one person she least expected to encounter again.

_"Sakura, I'm so sorry."_

* * *

He was pacing back and forth the white tile floors of this dreary hospital, his mind in complete turmoil. Oh no, oh no, _oh no_, he repeated in his head the entire time he was walking. He had his hands on his head, gripping his hair so tight that it looked like it would come off any second.

The frustration and the agony he felt only intensified by the minute.

He took a glance at the sleeping girl on his left, his coral blue orbs wandering to the peaceful look on the girl's face. The bright aura and atmosphere of the body breathing ever so softly may have fooled anyone, but years of practically living beside the pinkette's side made him aware of one simple fact.

She was far from peaceful.

To him, she looked like a wreck. Honestly, the girl looked broken and tired. Not physically, because she was still as beautiful as ever. Her long, pink hair still flowed so freely, her face free from creases and wrinkles and her soft, supple lips were parted slightly in order to take in the oxygen she needs to breathe.

No, not physically, but mentally and emotionally. She looked emotionally tired, emotionally broken. Who knows what thoughts ran through her mind every day, every single day since he left.

And the thought only intensified the guilt that was building up inside him.

_Sakura…_. The girl he's loved ever since he was born. He lived with her, grew and matured alongside her. She was his friend, his sister, the love of his life. It was perfect – it was meant to be. In his eyes, there was nobody else that could ever compare to the beauty and perfection of one Haruno Sakura. No one could separate them, nothing could ever destroy them.

But everything changed when she met _him._

Suddenly, the times she spent with him were becoming less and less, because she started to like his company better. When in the past, he was so confident of her love for him, now he wasn't so sure.

_His_ arrival destroyed everything.

But he knew, of course he knew. He knew that it wasn't an excuse, because what he did was unexcusable. Unforgivable. And he knew that no matter what he says or does, he can never make it up to her. All the lost time, the broken hearts and promises, everything.

With that thought, he slowly trudges up to her and sits on the chair by her bedside. He takes her soft hands in his calloused ones, and starts talking, pouring her heart out to her. Because he knows, he knows that she can't hear a word. And that's better.

It's for the better.

Before it ends, before he leaves, he says one more sentence to her as a goodbye. Again, he's leaving. Again, he's running away. He feels terrible, for doing this to her again. For repeating every mistake he's done to her in the past.

But he doesn't have a choice.

So with this, he slowly stands up, places a last kiss on her forehead and mutters with all the courage he can muster, "Sakura, I'm so sorry." The tone he used, it was laced with fear, and with longing, with care, with love, with guilt, and with regret.

He stood up, taking one last look at the girl he loves and imprinting her image onto his memory. With the thought of goodbye hanging thickly in the air, he slowly walks towards the door.

But before he could even reach for the handle, a voice he hasn't heard for almost seven years stops him and makes his entire form turn rigid.

"Where do you think you're going,_ Naruto_?"


	5. reunited

**A/N: So, yeah.. Here's chapter 4. ^_^ read & review!  
**

* * *

**Chapter FOUR:**

_**reunited**_

_"i'm still alive,_

_but i'm barely breathing_

_i'm falling to pieces, 'cause_

_when a heart breaks, no it don't break even."_

* * *

"_Sakura, I'm so sorry."_

Hearing that voice, _his_ voice, triggers something inside of her. Despite her protests, something inside of her longs to hear more of him, his voice and to see him again. To see his yellow, spiky hair and to drown in his coral blue eyes. She longs to stand face to face with the man who left her all those years ago, to stand there as a better person. To be able to face him with a big smile plastered on her beautiful, beautiful face.

But not like this. Oh, Kami, not like _this._

She's still broken, heck, she's a train wreck right now. She's not ready for this, she needed time. More time. Time to heal, to recover.. To _forgive._ But alas, fate has made up its mind. She's declared that the time for the reunion had to be right here, right now.

Which is why as soon as those four words were uttered by a certain blonde, a bright light blinded her and she was sucked right out of the void and back into the world. The _real_ world. The world where she lived a horrible life.

Suddenly, she begins to miss the black void she's trapped herself into.

Electricity travels through her veins like blood, making her shudder lightly. As soon as she feels it, she forces her eyes to slowly flutter open, viridian eyes meeting the white walls of the hospital room she's assigned to. It's when she glances to her right that she remembers that she's not alone in the room.

With all the voice she could muster, she croaks out, "Where do you think you're going, _Naruto_?"

The pinkette watches as the blonde freezes on the spot, his hands gripping the handle of the door so tightly and his entire form go rigid. She repeats the question, "Where do you think you're going?"

Silence.

The silence stretches out for more than half a minute, before Naruto decides to proceed. He slides the door open and was about to step out of the room, out of her life. But again, with the voice that has this power, this control over him, he freezes on the spot.

"No, Naruto, _wait_." She starts, her voice shaking. "We need to talk."

"We have nothing left to talk about, Sakura. Go back to sleep." He coldly replies, refusing to turn around and face her. "Goodbye, Sakura."

Viridian orbs narrow slightly, rage and confusion clearly displayed. "Nothing left to talk about? What the hell, Naruto? You suddenly leave me after 21 years of friendship, go on with seven years of your life without a single word to me, and now this? What's wrong with you? What the hell happened that night?" she yells out, anger evident in her tone. But underneath all the rage, the pain laced in her voice was undeniable.

No answer.

"Silence. That's what you give me, after seven years of suffering, you give me silence. In the past, I understood your silence. I understood the meaning behind it. But now? I _don't_ freakin' know! Talk to me, Naruto! I need you to talk to me! If you think silence will save you from this, well you're wrong. Your silence today won't fix anything!" she was screaming now, her breathing becoming ragged as she struggles to stabilize her breathing.

The blonde, still gripping the handle of the door clenches his fists until they turned white. His head whips around to face her, his features clearly displaying the anger and rage he feels. His eyes narrows, and his mouth sets into a thin line as he stares hard at the pink-haired girl in front of him.

Coral blue meets viridian green. What surprises both of them is a lone tear slipping from his left eye down to his chin.

"What do you want me to say, Sakura? That I'm sorry? That I didn't mean to leave you?" he hisses out, his teeth clenched together in frustration. "Well, you're in for one big disappointment, because I will never say that to you!"

"Liar." She mutters quietly to herself. "You're a liar!"

"What? Why are you calling me a—"

Sakura cuts him off. "I heard everything, Naruto. Every single word."

* * *

**_1 hour ago..._**

_I take her soft hand into my calloused ones, and I slowly start to caress it. My gaze drifts from her dishevelled pink hair down to her angelic face. Kami, I missed her. I missed her so much, it hurt. The regret builds up inside me every single day I'm apart from her._

_But I know, I'm well aware of the fact that no matter how much pain I feel, it can never compare to the amount of pain I've inflicted on her._

_And the thought saddens me._

_"Sakura, hey.. It's me, Naruto." I start talking to the sleeping girl in front of me, knowing full well that she can't hear me. "I know I left you and caused you so much pain. I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, I never wanted to see you cry. That's why I left, so I wouldn't have to see you cry over his death. Sasuke's death."_

_I draw in a shaky breath as I run my fingers through my yellow, spiky hair._

_My voice starts shaking as I continue. "I know you were there, and I know you saw me. Us. But it's not what it looked like, I swear to Kami, I didn't kill him Sakura. But I know who did. That's partly the reason why I left, to hunt down the man who killed him and take his life in exchange for the one he took. I left knowing full well that I wouldn't, couldn't come back anymore. I made a choice."_

_By now, I was crying. Tears were falling down my face, making my voice stutter. I don't know why I'm doing this, why I'm even talking when I know that she's unconscious and unable to hear anything I'm saying. But still, I pour my heart out to her. Praying, hoping, wishing that by some miracle, what I say will be able to reach her. Someday, somehow._

_"It was either my happiness, or your own. It was stupid, I know. Killing the man who killed Sasuke wouldn't bring him back, I know that now. I always knew. It pains me to admit it, but I always knew that I only used that as an excuse. An excuse to myself, to hide from the real reason why I left. And you wanna know why that is, eh, Sakura-chan?"_

_I smile softly to myself, thinking that I was really talking to her. I can imagine her response, her viridian orbs sparkling with curiosity and her head nodding ever so slightly, a small smile forming at the corner of her pink lips._

_"I love you, Sakura-chan. And it's because I love you that I know I can't be selfish with you. I left because I was afraid. I was afraid to see you fall apart because of his death, I was afraid of the pain I would feel if I ever see you crying because of him. I was afraid of the fact that if our roles were reversed, and I was the one who died, you wouldn't care as much as you did when he died. I know I was stupid and selfish, but can you really blame me? Love does that to people."_

_"But do you know what? I regret it. I regret every second of it. You have no idea how many times I wanted to just turn back and return to your side. I miss you, and every single day I spend apart from you breaks my heart over and over again. It was painful.. It hurt, it just… hurt. But I knew, I couldn't just come back. I have no right to come back. That's why I'm telling you all this now, even though I know you couldn't hear me. It's enough for me that I saw you once again. I'm sorry for running you over, I didn't mean it, I swear. This only adds to my list of unforgivable acts to you. Which is why, when I leave today, I will never come back. So you can be free to live your life without me, without the man who destroyed your life."_

_I wipe away the tears, and take a good look at the girl I've fallen in love with since day one. "I love you, Sakura. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."_

* * *

Sakura held his gaze, her viridian orbs glinting with grim determination. She shakily sits up, prepping her feet on the side of her bed before fully touching her feet to the ground. Taking steps towards the blonde ninja in front of her, she continues to stare deep into his coral blue orbs, as if challenging him to run out the door and leave.

The door remains ajar.

"Like I said, Naruto. I heard everything. Every single word." She's standing merely inches away from him now, and it's only in this moment that they notice that Naruto is about a heads taller than her. "Now tell me, you really think we have nothing left to talk about?"

Naruto was about to shake his head no, when she speaks again.

"I'm giving you another chance. You have two choices, you can either turn around, leave and step out of my life forever or you can shut that door, come inside and we can talk about everything that's happened. Your choice."

Naruto tightens his grip on the handle, his body tenses up as he makes his choice. A choice he needs to make sure he would not regret choosing in the end.


End file.
